The statue of Diana and the Hounds erected outside the Conservatory in
the Fitzroy Gardens is the work of W. Leslie-Bowles. The mould was
completed in 1939 but the onset of the Second World War temporarily
delayed casting by A. B. Brunton in London. The statue was in fact the
last to be cast in Britain before the War and had to run the gauntlet of
German U-Boats on its return to Australia. It was erected in a pool in
front of the Conservatory at a cost of £750 and unveiled by the Lord
Mayor, Councillor Coles on the 4th of September, 1940.

The statue was the first new work to be installed in the Fitzroy
Gardens following the removal of the old plaster and cement copies of
ancient Roman and Greek sculpture first erected in the 1860's. The new
bronze "Diana" replaced the old disintegrating cement statue copies from
the Roman "Diana" Goddess of Mood and Contemplation held in the Vatican,
Rome.